Like a Lost Puppy
by Kawaii Kitsune Cub
Summary: In the month before the final Chuushin exams, Kiba is stuck helping to take care of the newest Inuzuka puppies. But, poor Kiba, these dogs have a mind of their own.


Another one-shot... when I should be working on other projects. . Shhh! Don't tell!

* * *

He wasn't one to say, out loud, that something was cute. Everyone knew it. The plushies Hinata was fond of? Eh, so-so. Kittens? They tugged on the heart strings, but were frankly much too independent once they grew up for his liking. Babies and young children? Well, he certainly wanted some of his own, someday...

However, the young puppies, teething their little baby-chops on rubber squeaky toys and rolling around the fenced-off playpen... now, they were cute. Perhaps even (dare he say it?) _adorable_.

"Kiba, hurry up with their feeding!" The older man, his cheeks marked with the red triangles that identified the Inuzuka clan, was the owner of the parent dogs and an uncle or cousin, or in-some-vague-yet-plausible-way, related to Kiba. Needless to say, they weren't closely related. He couldn't even remember the man's name, much less the last time they had last met. To tell the truth, it irked him that he didn't know a good portion of his extended family.

Grumbling, the genin once again hoisted the twenty-pound bag of puppy chow over his shoulder and whistled to Akamaru. The small dog, with his floppy ears and incessant grin, trotted obediently at Kiba's heels. He dropped the bag by the pen's gate with a grunt, and struggled with the latch.

The style of latch was difficult to open to begin with, seeing as you nearly had to bend over completely and brace the gate with your shoulder just to lift the lower latch, never mind twisting it and its' higher-placed cousin at the same time. But, paired with the horde of eight-week-old puppies waiting patiently for the gate to swing open even the least bit, and even minor tasks such as feeding or moving the puppies from the pen to the house was annoying exhausting.

"Man, Akamaru, what did we do to get assigned here?" The dog seemed to shrug, but let off a series of high-pitched barks, each of which made Kiba only grumble more. Character-building because they lost to Naruto in the pre-lims? Not even his sis was that cruel. Another bark, and the Inuzuka genin shrugged the comment off.

"Alright, Akamaru," Kiba began, bracing the gate shut as his free hand searched for the top latch. "You herd them in there until I can get the gate secured behind me." The small dog cocked a quizzical head at the litter of pups, but nodded intelligently. Kiba returned the gesture and twisted both latches, making the gate spring open.

Before the pups could happily bound forth and venture through the great outdoors, Akamaru ran in, tail held high and white fur bristling, and stood his ground at the entrance of the pen. The pups, nine in all, whimpered and paced, unsure of what to do with this aggressive new dog. As Kiba struggled to balance the food bag evenly on his shoulders, Akamaru did an excellent job of keeping the puppies in line and guarding the gate. Finally, the human hurried inside and closed the gate with a nudge from his elbow, then held the gate shut with an outstretched foot as he let the bag of puppy chow land with a thud. Holding the open end of the bag with one hand, he retrieved the large food scoop, whose handle had been wedged in his back pocket.

As soon as corner of the re-closable seal of the bag was open, and the smell of dog food could be smelled more clearly through the opening, the pups milled about his feet, whining and sniffing the bag. A few attempted to jump on his legs, but refrained under Akamaru's surveillance. Kiba noted, with a twinge of annoyance, that the large, stainless steel, food bowls were on the other end of the pen. Unable to cross the pen and keep the gate shut, the genin suddenly though that perhaps he should have thought of a better plan of action... or ask for help from someone.

As if reading his owner's mind, Akamaru eyed one of the bowls, then began nosing it forwards at a steady pace. Despite his short legs and the weight of the food bowl (intended to be heavy to prevent the pups from dumping and wasting the food), the dog made short work of moving all three bowls over. And, with his ninja-speed, Kiba quickly filled the bowls and re-sealed the food bag, then hastily swung the bag up on his shoulders as he made for the gate.

Yes, his extensive training was put to good use... feeding puppies.

He was about ready to leave the pen, Akamaru at his side, when he glanced back at the puppies. His own dog merely glanced up at him, back at the busily eating puppies, then made another canine-ish shrug. Whatever Kiba wanted to do, he was fine with.

The short mental battle over, Kiba let the bag fall ungracefully outside the gate, then ducked back in and fastened it shut behind him. For the entirety of the week he had spent working here, with his barely-known relative, he hadn't had any time for play. Every time he came over, it was to feed or clean up after the young dogs -- a bit unfair in his opinion. After all, what was wrong with a little friendly play-wrestle with the newest generation of Inuzuka clan dogs?

The first of the pups, a brown female, noticed that the human caretaker hadn't yet left and tilted her head. When Kiba squatted down and clucked his tongue at her, she curiously ambled over; all-too-delighted to find out that the human was willing to give her a scratch behind the ears. Kiba grinned, if a bit wolfishly, but jumped as Akamaru gave him a small nip. "Akamaru! What?"

More barking, and Kiba looked genuinely shocked. "Oh, come on, you know I wouldn't do that. You're my partner, and it's staying that way!" The white dog made a whining noise and just lay down, ears flopping even more. Kiba rolled his eyes, and stopped petting the female puppy (although she didn't leave). "Yeah, sis has two or three dogs, and so does mom, but we're too close to just toss in someone else!"

Akamaru, however, just sniffed at the air and turned away, as if daring his human partner to go play with the other puppies over him. Kiba just stared at his years-long companion, then snorted. "Have it your way..."

And with that, he was perfectly content to frolic with the puppies, since the youngsters seemed to have finished inhaling their food. And frolic they did! With wrestling, and tug-of-war, and, of course, good old-fashioned tackling of the poor outnumbered human!

That was until one particularly runt-ish pup, a tiny gray-brown male with one half-flopped ear (as opposed to the erect ears of his wolf-like lineage), found the drawstrings of Kiba's hood. With a well-placed jump and snap of his growing teeth, the pup soon found that he had dragged the human down to his level, and had surprised the boy, as well. Well, wasting no time, all nine pups swarmed over the Inuzuka boy, happy to find other such fun accessories among his clothing.

Before he knew what was happening, it was too late, and Kiba suddenly found himself the base of a puppy pig pile. It didn't take long for them to go after the straps of his sandals, accidentally nipping his toes every now and then as as many as three pups gnawed on one foot. Apparently, they also found his belt loops and the hem of his shorts just as entertaining, as well as his pockets (since there was still the scent of food on them, and Kiba vowed to never carry treats home from the convenience store in such a manner ever again).

But the hood... Oh, God, the hood. They were having a field day with that. Even as a pair of pups were having a grand time of chewing on his knees, one had managed to jump up onto the boy's back and had spotted the furry ruff of the hood. Again, it was the runt with the floppish ear, and Kiba decided early on that it was this pup to look out for... this demonic little runt that was uncannily intelligent.

The puppy almost reminded him of Akamaru, but, as he remembered, his own dog hadn't tried to viciously chew his ears in an attempt to tear apart his favorite coat. No, this runt was in a class all in his own.

"Akamaru, help meee!"

Akamaru gave a little snort, as if he simply hadn't heard. With a sigh, the dog rolled onto his back and watched the clouds go by through the chain-link of the playpen. After a minute or two of hearing the human yell for help, however, he began to wonder who would feed and take him out for walks at five in the morning or cheer him on as he performed another perfect "dynamic marking". Who would spoil him rotten, taking him to restaurants despite the no-pets rule? Who would sit there for hours rubbing his belly and telling him how great he was?

And, besides that, it would be rather embarrassing if anyone found out that his _ninja_ human had been defeated by a horde of playing pups... He would never be able to show his face around the local corner trashcans, again.

So, with all the determination the little dog could muster, her rolled onto his belly and yawned a mighty yawn before charging off to battle.

Slowly. He slowly charged... more like trotting...ambled was the more correct term, literally speaking. So, okay, he was rather amused at the whole scenario, but who's to say that he was trying his best nonetheless? He had never really liked the fur ruff on Kiba's hood, anyway...

"Oh! K-Kiba-san, are you okay!" Akamaru glanced up, and grinned his doggish grin at their Hyuuga teammate. Estimating that Kiba would be perfectly okay (especially now that Hinata was here), he meandered over to the gate, where Shino and Hinata were watching, quietly, how Kiba fared against his ferocious enemies of Almighty Fuzzy Doom. Although it was very discreet, Shino had even cracked a smile.

From the pile of puppies, Kiba managed to free his head and look over at his teammate with wide eyes. "What are you guys doing here!" Hurriedly, he struggled from out of the pile, trying to get the pups to let go of him one way or another. As soon as he sat up, the pups aiming for his hood had lost their grasp (although they were valiantly leaping back up for another go), and the genin waded his way through the sea of puppies towards the gate.

"...We had a little bit of free time," Shino finally stated, amused expression hidden by his sunglasses. "Your sister told us you were working here, when we stopped by your house a few minutes ago," Hinata helpfully added. "She said that you would be coming back home, but Shino has to get back to his training soon."

Kiba fought back a mental gripe. Stupid Shino, progressing through the Chuunin preliminaries. The Aburame boy had been training for a good three weeks now, without so much as his typical nodded hello for his teammates. A sharp nip on the toes brought him back to the here and now. "Sounds great. Just give me a minute to get out of here." Akamaru paced by his owner's feet, as Kiba struggled to work the latch while guarding his furry hood. Frankly, he didn't want to put his face any closer to the ground than was necessary.

Hinata was the first to acknowledge the "technical difficulties" that Kiba was having, and knelt down to study the gate latch. "Kiba, how do you undo this? I could help..."

"Oh, no, no! I have it!" He faked a smile, trying to dismiss the raised eyebrow Shino gave him. Hinata sat back on her heels, white eyes roaming over the complicated mechanism. "I guess Inuzuka dogs must be very valuable to guard them like this..."

"Yeah, they're the best," Kiba proudly said, nodding a head over towards his own Akamaru. "Training them is fun, too, when they're young."

The two of them fell silent, Kiba struggling to turn the latch and intimidate the demonic runt away from his hood drawstrings at the same time, and Hinata gladly watching. Shino wasn't much of a conversation starter, anyways -- unless one wanted to talk about the most disturbing ninjutsu known to ninja-kind. Kiba had once suffered the same fleas Akamaru had, when both of them were younger, and it had been bad enough to deal with the disturbing crawling sensation for just one school day. To live with that, multiplied by a couple million... it was unthinkable.

Finally, the gate clicked open, and Akamaru slid through the barely opened gateway, Kiba turning sideways to follow suit. He had just managed to slip his shoulders and chest through, when he was suddenly yanked backwards, and Hinata stifled a gasp. Knowing just what was going on, thanks to the fact that his pants were slowly being pulled down, the Inuzuka boy glared back at the nine puppies that had decided to latch onto his pants leg.

And all in front of Hinata... Jeebus. Would it ever end?

So, he decided to play it cool, or as cool as a guy who was getting his pants torn off in front of his crush could possibly be. "On second thought, why don't you come on in? They're harmless."

"Are you sure, Kiba?" Upon more urging from Kiba, it didn't take much longer for her to break down and go to enter the playpen, but Kiba raised a hand to stop her. "You might want to take off your jacket; they might chew holes through it." Hinata quickly unzippered her heavy jacket, folding it neatly and placing it on top of the bag of puppy chow, while Kiba attempted to shrug his own off. The task was much harder than usual when one was half-stuck in a fence. Still, he got it off, the rough shirt underneath an off-white color, and ducked out of the gateway, allowing the Hyuuga to step in unheeded.

Hinata timidly stayed by the gate, seemingly afraid to step away from the exit as Kiba hooked two fingers in the chain link to hold it shut. Finally, when the same outgoing female from earlier had disentangled herself from the mob and ambled forwards amiably, Hinata knelt down and scooped the brown female up in her arms. The Hyuuga hummed softly to the puppy as the young dog attempted to lick her ears, making Kiba's heart nearly skip a beat.

Ah, hell, he was determined to look good in front of Hinata, pants be damned.

Unsure what to make of his other teammate, he glanced over at Shino. "You coming in, too?" He caught a flicker of movement from behind Shino's dark glasses, a gesture that told him to get a clue, and Kiba shrugged before clicking the gate shut. "Suit yourself."

The time passed quickly, the puppies wandering over to Hinata at some time or another to inspect her. So as not to have the girl be overwhelmed like he himself had been earlier, Kiba distracted the majority of the litter as a pup or two would snuggle up by her to be petted. By now, he was numb to the constant gnawing of the pups (which was starting to stop altogether, now), as he was currently living a waking dream. It was nearly perfect...

Kiba's eyes wandered over to the fence, where Shino had been patiently standing, and he sighed. Yes, it would be perfect if only Shino would leave them alone. He had training to do, so why wasn't he off somewhere else?

Suddenly, Kiba did a double take, then counted up the number of puppies dozing at the sides of Hinata and himself. Two... Four...Six...Eight... But the runt? The evil little furry-hood-killer?

Sitting next to Shino's feet, attempting to get as close as he could against the bug user's ankles, even through the chain link fence. The Aburame genin seemed to not even notice... or maybe he did and was shocked. Who knew behind those glasses?

Shino "hmph"-ed, and attempted to nudge the puppy away, but the small dog merely snapped and whined at the boy's sandaled feet. Akamaru, who had lain down by the gate, yipped and rolled over on his back. The dog lunged upwards, snapping at a bug that flew through the fence and landed on the head of a dingy-gray male puppy. Quickly, Kiba snatched the insect by one of its gossamer wings, and narrowed his eyes at the bloodsucking mosquito he had found. Was it that late already? Granted, the sun didn't even start to set until eight-thirty, but he could have sworn that it was no later than five.

And Shino was still hanging around. What had that been about sneaking off from training for a few _minutes?_ A beeping noise came from Hinata's coat pocket, the puppies stirring to varying degrees, and the Hyuuga jerked awake. She blinked those amazingly white eyes of hers, then noticed that the quartet of sleeping puppies were preventing her from standing up. Still, she tried to move them off her as gently as she could.

"Oh, that's my watch. If I don't get home soon, my father might send Neji out to find me... we're supposed to be having an important guest over for dinner, tonight."

Kiba sighed tiredly. An important dinner? He couldn't even imagine living in such a strict and high-class family. And, as much as he would have liked to share the moment a bit longer, he wasn't exactly Neji's best friend, either.

As Hinata picked her way across the playpen, Shino moved to open the gate, and Akamaru rolled to his paws, barking happily. As soon as Hinata squeezed out through the gate, Shino handed the girl her folded coat, and stepped back to allow her room. Even though he moved at half the speed his teammate did, Kiba still winced at the pins and needles racing up and down his legs, and entangled one hand in the chain links until the odd feeling of one leg being shorter than the other disappeared.

Hinata lingered by the pen, nervously zipping up her jacket. "Kiba, thank you for letting us stay with you."

"Ah, it was nothing." Quickly, he cut himself off before he could ramble on. "I need to feed them again, soon." Technically, there was still enough food left in the bowls to keep the pups fed until the next morning, but it couldn't hurt to add another half-scoop to the bowls, if only so he wouldn't be accused of slacking.

The three teammates glanced at each other awkwardly (or perhaps it was only Hinata and Kiba who were awkward with each other... Shino was impossible to read), before going their separate ways, Shino escorting the Hyuuga. Kiba watched them briefly, then sighed and once again dug into the bag of premium puppy chow, only to look up to a whining Akamaru.

"What is it now, Akamaru?" He slipped back through the gate, holding the scoop high above the sleeping puppies' heads as if it were the Holy Grail. The crunchy pellets clinked against the steel bowls as Akamaru practically howled out his own comments, and Kiba tried to drown the dog out like many a child did to their parents. "They're busy, boy. We are, too." A gruff snort from the small white dog was his only reply.

"Kiba! Akamaru!"

The Inuzuka boy looked up at the source of the voice, and squinted his eyes at the older woman calling out to him from the small house. If he remembered correctly, she was the wife of his cousin and/or uncle. Damn, he wished he had learned her name better.

"Do you boys want to stay for dinner? It's late enough, already."

Kiba was about ready to turn down the offer – after all, he wanted to return home as soon as possible, by this point of the day – but the older woman had a much more formidable weapon at her disposal. "We're having mochikin and imagawayaki..." She sang the last three words in a little singsong voice, her spatula waving in the air like some sort of conductor's baton, then disappeared back inside the house.

* * *

Kiba and Akamaru looked at each other, back at the house, then at each other again. With a loud bark, the dog ran across the yard as Kiba struggled out of the gate and grabbed his jacket. "No way you're eating it all! Get back here! Akamaruuu!"

Now full of their red bean sweetcakes and tofu-enclosed rice, the genin and his dog strolled outside to digest their food and check on the puppies before leaving for the night. The sky had turned a soft shade of lavender by the time they reached the pen, and they stared at the open gate that was swinging softly on it's hinges in the wind.

... The open gate...

All color drained out of Kiba's face as he rushed to the gate, listening to it click shut as he counted out the number of sleeping puppies inside. Again, he got up to eight before running out of puppies, and checked frantically to make sure he hadn't just forgotten to count one. Two attempts later, with no sign of a ninth puppy, and both Kiba and Akamaru were starting to panic. Whining, the white dog tucked his tail between his legs and hunched; hands stuffed in pockets, and hood giving his silhouette the appearance of fur, Kiba had much the same expression as his dog.

"Akamaru, see if you can pick up on the scent. It couldn't have gotten far." The dog glanced at his human companion, before trotting over towards the gate in order to find a scent trail. When he finally did find one, Akamaru broke out into a run towards the more crowded section of Konohagakure. Both of them knew the trouble they would be in if even one puppy went wandering out of the yard, never mind in the "big city" of the main part of town. Good lord, he could even imagine what could possibly be happening to the pup even now. Picked on by pedestrians, used as target practice by a couple of ninja academy snots, chased off by stray dogs... the list went on and on.

Although he would rather not look like an irresponsible child, much less for something as simple and second-nature as taking care of a dog, Kiba knew that the search would easier with help. He still didn't know if it was a fortunate thing that the scent trail didn't stray too far from the Hyuuga compound, and he called Akamaru to a halt.

"You stay here and guard the trail. I'm going to ask Hinata for help," He stated, stepping off the main road and up to the front gates of the Hyuuga compound, only to come eye-level with a large intercom, with nearly a hundred buttons on its face, that spat out static before a voice finally said: "State your name and business, please."

If anything, he was certain that the "please" had been added on at the end so as not to bother local passerby, although the gateman's tone was enough to send strangers off in a huff. "Inuzuka Kiba," He began, just wondering what the gateman's face had to look like as he, a nervous genin, stood in front of the huge house. "I'm looking for Hyuuga Hinata, and am a part of her team. It's..." He thought about using the word "important", seeing as that whatever dinner guests the Hyuuga's had was far more important than he. Still, the bigger he made his reasons, the better a chance he had of actually pulling Hinata away from entertaining the guests. "It's important matters, sir."

"Kiba, you don't have to call me sir," The voice muttered, and Kiba stared at the intercom in shock. Damn Neji, and his stoic attitude, and the stupid Hyuuga family for sounding so alike. "I still need to see Hinata," He insisted, and the gates opened just enough to let him in. "I'll tell her," said Neji, before the intercom went dead.

Kiba ran up to the front doors, for once not paying any attention to the various brightly colored summer flowers that flourished in the well-taken-care-of garden. Obviously a gardener or some other Hyuuga took care of the flowerbeds, since Kiba couldn't even begin to imagine Hiashi touching any gardening tools, much less actually work in the dirt. Oddly enough, a heavy bronze bell was hung by the door, instead of a wired-in doorbell; the boy was about to ring it, when suddenly a rush of footsteps from the side of the compound made him pause.

"Kiba, didn't Neji-san tell you to use the side door?" Hinata didn't look like she had been interrupted from a formal dinner, as her traditional robes were light and made out of cotton. Briefly, Kiba wondered if they were the kunoichi's bedclothes, but shifted his attention back to the manner of the missing puppy.

"No, no he didn't." Kiba wasn't surprised to see Hinata sigh. Apparently, it was a detail that Neji forgot (or purposefully omitted) often. "It doesn't matter," she said, glancing around the garden nervously. "But what did you need me for?"

For a second, he wondered if he could get away with a grand story - there was no way he wanted to embarrass himself in front of Hinata, of all people – or just tell it like it was. In the end, ultimately, truth won out. "One of the puppies got by me when I was going in for dinner. Akamaru has his scent trail, but it can't hurt to have an extra pair of eyes..." He had stretched the truth (just a little, of course), but he seriously hoped that Hinata wouldn't be called back into the house. If he remembered, the girl's father had set a curfew when she wasn't on a mission.

"O-one of the puppies?" Her face was struck with pity, and Kiba suddenly felt guilt for throwing her in the middle of the situation. Her Byakugan was helpful, but he didn't want to emotionally scar the Hyuuga, too; as far as he could tell, that was Neji's job. Surprisingly, Hinata's expression hardened. "I will help you, Kiba. But let me get changed, first." The last bit she squeaked out, running for the (side) door, as Kiba stared skywards, face first to a light sprinkling of water droplets.

He was just about to claim that the rain wasn't much, until the weather worsened tenfold, and he was trying to get as far underneath the front door overhang as he could. Earlier he hadn't bothered to notice the smell of the rain clouds as he worked (the clouds had been lingering for days), and now was more than making up for the hassle-free job he had had just hours earlier. Forlornly, he looked past the main gate. Akamaru was still outside there, guarding the nearly washed away trail. Whether they found the puppy or not, he was prepared to pamper the dog rotten once they got back home -- Akamaru deserved it.

A minute later, Hinata once again ran out of the side door, wearing her usual bulky jacket. Kiba kept pace with her as they exited the Hyuuga house gates, and caught the purple object that Hinata tossed to him by its bamboo handle. With a wayward glance over at the kunoichi, who was now protecting her eyes from the stinging rain with her dandelion-yellow umbrella, Kiba got the hint of what was in his hands, and the umbrella opened with a snap. He'd barely had time to notice the pink flower design along the purple fabric before scooping up Akamaru with his free hand and tucking the dog into his jacket.

* * *

He didn't like the rain. Neither did his bugs. Rain could easily injure the insect's fragile wings; it washed away the pheromones that the chakra bugs used to communicate with, and the water had the potential of drowning a good portion of the colony.

Therefore, to cut down on losses and plain aggravation, Aburame clansmen stayed out of the rain unless it was completely necessary.

Currently, Shino was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the living room rug, leaning his back against the coffee table, reading a complicated scroll. He had been working on the particular strategy written inside the scroll, in hopes it would be useful against the puppet-wielder from Sunagakure. Using wood-eating insects would give him a definite advantage, as he had already tested them out (although discreetly) on a few carts in the Konoha marketplace. Like he had predicted -- even better than, really -- the cart axles had stuck and cracked, splintering while the ravenous bugs had quietly returned to their Genin owner.

Nudging his sunglasses farther up his nose, Shino smirked from behind his jacket's high collar. He couldn't wait to see the look on that Sand-nin's ridiculously painted face when the puppet-wielder learned just how resourceful he was.

"Hiinnnnne!"

Shino looked up from the scroll, one eyebrow raised at the unusual noise coming from his front door. No enemy ninja -- not that there were any in konohagakure, anyways, he had to remind himself -- would make such a pitiful sound. The Aburame boy was ready to turn back to his scroll when claws noisily scratched against the door. Shino hunched his shoulders, trying his best to study, when the animal at the door once again wailed out over the pounding rain.

A couple short yips came out from between the whines, and Shino sighed, carefully rolling up the scroll and placing it neatly on the coffee table. He gracefully got up to his feet, ignoring the odd rush of blood to his legs, and strolled over to the door, one hand subconsciously within grabbing-reach of the kunai pouch strapped to his thigh. Reflexes sharp as ever, the genin whipped the door open, the circular handle of a kunai already looped around his finger, and merely stared at the huddled little lump of fur on his front step.

The little lump barked, the noise rising into a falsetto howl, and Shinolet the kunai drop from his finger and back into his bag. Brown eyes wide, the puppy raised it's shaking head and hungrily looked into the warm Aburame house. Before Shino could even attempt to stop the puppy, it had already run inside, through the kitchen, and flopped next to the heater vent, shaking rainwater all over the living room rug.

With something between a grumble and a sigh, the bug-boy shut the front door and searched the kitchen cabinets for a small bowl. Finding a spare rice bowl, the last remainder of a set that Kiba had accidentally smashed the last (and only) time his teammate had been over, Shino retrieved the carton of milk from the fridge and poured enough into the pot that his mother kept on the stove twenty-four-seven so that it rose a quarter inch. He turned the dial, really having no idea how to cook (let alone boil water) despite the expertise with which he adjusted the flame of the gas burner.

That done, he returned to the living room, and spread out the scroll once again, this time on the coffee table and well out of reach of his dog visitor. However, he didn't get to read for long before the puppy cocked his one upright ear and trotted up to the table. Shino continued to read, but the feeling of being stared at was enough to make him avert his eyes behind the sunglasses. Every time he let his gaze wander upwards, the puppy would whip his little head away, although his curly little tail would wag like crazy.

Soon, it became a sort of game, one that amused the young dog to no end, as Shino became increasingly fed up with the young animal. Stare, look away, wag, watch the human read some more, stare, look away...

He broke the "game" long enough to notice steam rising from the stove, and left the scroll on the table as he went into the kitchen. The genin retrieved a pair of oven mitts, covered in burn marks and stains, and moved the pot of milk off the burner, then clicked the switch to "Off". Still wearing the oven mitts (which had seen much, _much_, better days), Shino carefully poured the hot milk into the survivor-bowl. Pulling off a mitt, he used it to fan off the milk as he walked into the living room, holding the hot bowl in his only protected hand. The travel and makeshift fan had been enough to cool the liquid down considerably, and the Aburame boy placed the bowl down, with a slight bump, on the floor next to him.

Eyes bright, the puppy frolicked from the opposite side of the table to hungrily lap up the warm treat. The heater vent had left dry patches in the puppy's fur coat, which had seemed a dingy-black when wet. Still reading his scroll, Shino gently rubbed the puppy's dry shoulder as the dog inhaled the milk. The puppy looked up, milk dripping from it's muzzle, before licking Shino's hand and digging back into the treat.

The bug-controlling genin gave one of his rare smiles, and continued to affectionately rub the puppy's shoulder as he read.

* * *

"Shino? Shino!" Kiba slammed his fist against the door, spitting rainwater out of his mouth. Even with the umbrella, which was folded and tucked under his arm as they stood underneath the roof overhang, his hair was plastered against his forehead, and the rainwater had nearly soaked his jacket through. Hinata looked worse, and quite woozy, too. Kiba's brows furrowed; not only was the byakugan a strain, but he wasn't completely sure that she had recovered entirely from her fight with her cousin.

Again, stupid Neji... that arrogant bastard... He felt a soft growl rise in his throat, and took out his anger on the door, beating it with even more force than before. "Shino, come on, open up!"

No answer, and this time Akamaru joined in on the yelling. The small dog let loose a howl, just as Kiba hollered, "I know you aren't asleep! Open the door now!"

The door stayed just as shut as ever, and Kiba propped the umbrella by the doorframe, stalking out into the rain. Hinata clutched the bamboo handle of her own umbrella, and grimaced. "K-Kiba, please don't... you don't want to bother the neighbors."

The Inuzuka boy didn't listen, however, and took a running start at the door before using his momentum to strengthen his roundhouse kick. The door shuddered on it's hinges, the screws making a screeching sound as they were forced out of the wooden frame, and Kiba gasped for breath while hunched over his knees.

Meekly, as if to taunt Kiba, the front door of the Aburame threshold opened and Shino poked his head out. "What do you want?"

"W-what do I... -hahh- want?" Kiba coughed and sputtered, trying to suck in more air than rainwater. "Hinata and I have been searching all night... one of the puppies... left the pen," He groaned and lurched forwards, his forehead colliding with the door frame he had just so viciously attacked moments ago.

From behind Shino's glasses, Hinata noticed a flicker of motion before their teammate finally asked, "So?"

As gently as she could, Hinata grabbed onto Kiba's arm before the rasher genin could lunge full-bodily at the bug-manipulator. "Maybe could you help us look, Shino-san?"

Shino didn't answer, but instead stepped out of the doorway, leaving the door open. "Want a towel?" Was all that he asked.

Hinata shared looks with Akamaru, but Kiba lurched inside and shrugged off his soaked jacket (allowing Akamaru enough time to hop out), letting it drop to the floor. In unison, the dog and boy shook themselves off, water droplets flying everywhere. After the indoors rainfall was over, Hinata folded up her umbrella and leaned it up against the one she had let Kiba borrow before stepping in, courteously slipping off her sandals as she did so. Kiba, however, plodded through the kitchen, his sandals leaving muddy footprints all over the kitchen floor.

As if by habit, he honed in straight for the heater vent, but only stopped and stared at the dingy-gray animal that had taken refuge by the coffee table, next to the crushed imprint in the living room rug that indicated Shino had been sitting there not so long ago. Just as dumbfounded, Akamaru panted and stared at the runt puppy that the three of them had been searching for.

In the kitchen, Hinata graciously accepted the dry, fluffy, guest towel and made a small bow to Shino, who nodded his head in return. All gentility was ruined, however, as Kiba stomped back into the kitchen and ripped the other towel out of Shino's hands, then spun it until the towel resembled a fluffy whip.

"Shino, you found the puppy..?"

The Aburame redirected his eyes to the dog sleeping on the living room rug -- even though neither of his teammates could tell from behind his dark glasses -- and slowly nodded. "Yes..."

"And you didn't think to call and tell me?"

Well, yes, he had thought about it, but what was the point of dragging the poor dog through the rain yet again? Besides, he wasn't fond enough of the water to go wandering about in the middle of a rainstorm. Returning the puppy, warm and safe, would have been easier in the morning.

Then again, he didn't expect Kiba to take that for an answer.

"It likes it here."

Kiba focused one wolfish eye on the peacefully slumbering puppy. "Apparently."

Then, the Inuzuka genin kneeled down and wrapped Akamaru in the towel before clutching the dog to his chest and pulling back on his still-damp jacket. Hinata unearthed her face from the dry towel, and blinked silvery-white eyes at her teammate.

"Kiba..?"

"I'm going home," He muttered jerking open the door. Giving Shino one last look, then roving an eye over the fairly clean kitchen (minus his own footprints), Kibe shrugged. "Keep the little runt."

"Hm?" Shino raised his chin at his teammate's statement, as if questioning Kiba's sanity.

"You heard me. Keep him. Not many other people would." Stuffing his hands in his pockets and completely forgetting about the umbrellas leaned up against the wall, Kiba marched out into the rainy night. Hinata looked worriedly after him as she gently shut the front door before the rain could form a large enough puddle.

"O-oh, my..."

But Shino shrugged, and returned to the living room, back to his studying and petting the sleeping puppy that now belonged to him.

* * *

"Are you sure that your uncle isn't too mad?" Hinata squatted down by the pen, giggling softly as the eight remaining puppies licked her fingers through the chain-link. Inside the pen, Kiba let the last scoop of food fall into the bowl with a cascade of chiming.

"He could be angrier... he doesn't mind so much, seeing it was the runt, but..." he grimaced at the argument from earlier that morning. "I'm stuck helping sis out in the veterinary clinic for a few months, to pay off for the pup."

"Oh..." She concentrated on the puppy in front of her, not quite sure of what to say at first. "Well, at least you really like working with dogs."

"Eh, yeah. It can be rewarding." Kiba slipped out of the pen -- taking extra care to make sure the gate clicked shut behind him. "I just hope Shino treats that runt right... dogs are harder to care for than bugs."

"I'm sure they're going to be fine together," Hinata comforted, tearing herself away from the adorable balls of fluff inside the pen. Kiba only grunted in reply, tucking the food scoop back into his back pocket, and the Hyuuga poked her pointer fingers together, more than a bit nervous. As if sensing her thoughts, Akamaru rolled onto his belly and stood up, shaking off random pieces of grass before nudging Hinata's hand with his muzzle.

"Kiba-san?"

"Rrgh... yeah?" He leaned haphazardly to one side, trying to get a clear look at Hinata, who was nearly behind him, and balance the large sack of puppy chow on his shoulders at the same time.

"Well, I-I was wondering...oh." She trotted after Kiba as the genin sped-walked towards the storage shed by the house. "Um, would you, uh, sit with me..? At the Chuunin exams?"

Kiba stopped suddenly, too suddenly, almost, as the bag's momentum nearly carried it off his shoulders. "Me?" He finally asked, staring at Hinata, wide-eyed.

"Uh, yes. I mean, um, we need to cheer on Shino, right? He's on our team and all..." She stared down at the ground, suddenly entranced with her sandals. But all of Kiba's enthusiasm slowly began to deflate.

Of course... cheer on Shino. Shino that made it to the finals. Shino that got him stuck in a debt to pay off a demonic little snot of a dog. I'm-the-leader-of-the-team-and-better-than-you Shino.

"P-please?" At the look Hinata gave him, Kiba's resent for his other teammate faded. Here he was, being asked to do something with Hinata-chan. Something that would probably never happen again. And she looked so darn sincere, too!

"Eh, sure, why not?"

"Really?" She looked up in surprise, her sandals suddenly forgotten. Kiba rolled his eyes (although on the inside he was jumping up and down like a giddy little schoolgirl) and continued to trudge back to the storage shed. "Yeah, can you just get that door open for me?"

"Oh, of course!" As he lowered the bag of puppy chow into the dark shed, he listened to the kunoichi chatter. "You know when the day is, right? I was thinking of sitting in section C, if you don't mind."

"No prob..." He stepped back into the brilliant afternoon sunlight, and shoved the shed door shut with his shoulder, hooking the combination lock into the latch and securing the door.

Hinata bowed her head, flushing bright pink. "Thank you, Kiba-san! I'll see you then!" And with that, she left for home. Akamaru, having plopped down by the shed a while ago, grinned wolfishly up at his owner, who returned the look. If the dog had been in possession of a hand at the moment, the two of them would have performed a leaping high-five. As it was, that smile was enough.

* * *

Well, if you enjoyed, please review. I just had to get this idea out, or the plot bunnies would've eaten me with their big, sharp, nasty teeth. x.x 


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